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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

French Seams (Crepe Sew-Along #15)

Yep, French seams can make you feel like singing Stevie Wonder.

Hey, does everyone know how to sew a French seam? If not, it's time to learn! There are a ton of tutorials out there, but I thought I'd share my process on the Crepe dress. I use French seams on my skirts all the time, because it so nicely encloses the raw edge.

For this dress, I'm only using French seams on the center front and center back skirt seam. This is because there are pockets on the side seams, which would make the process more complicated there. (But it is possible to do French seams with side seam pockets, as you can read here.)

First, start by putting your front skirt sections WRONG sides together. This will feel very weird if you've never done it before. (And, truthfully, even if you have.)

Now, follow the directions in the pictograms! (Yeah, that word definitely doesn't mean what I think it means.) Start by pinning and sewing your seam together with a 3/8" seam allowance. (Oh, and double-click any of the pictograms to see them bigger.)

(Note: If for some reason your pattern seam allowance is different from 5/8", just subtract 1/4" from your seam allowance and use that number in this step. So, if you had a 1/2" seam allowance on your pattern, you would sew a 1/4" seam allowance on this first step. Make sense? The point is that you want to have 1/4" left to work with after this step.)

Now trim this seam allowance down to 1/8".

Press your teensy-weensy seam allowance open. (If you're anything like me, this is the step where you start to panic that you've done it wrong because it just seems so weird to have your seam on the outside of your dress. Don't fear! You're on the right track.)

Now, press the skirt pieces right sides together, making sure to align that seam right on the edge.

Go back to your machine and stitch at 1/4".

Press to the side.

Here's the seam from the outside; it looks like any other seam.

That's it!

Crepe Sew-Alongers, do this for the front skirt section and the two back skirt sections. We'll do pockets next time!

I've sewn French seams before, usually on light weight fabric tops and here's my dilemma; what do you do with the French seam when there's a side slit? I've never been able to work this out. Perhaps I should check out that French seam/side pocket tutorial you linked to?

Toria, your wish is my command! I added a pic of the outside of the seam. It looks like any old seam from the outside.

SewSister, the only thing I've been able to figure out is to clip into the French seam at the top of the slit. This frees it up to turn to the inside like a vent. I'd be glad to hear other suggestions though!

after i learned french seams honey i never looked back =-) i will say that if you fit as you sew, then you better french after you do that honey because you just cannot fudge this technique after its in place (ie move out your SA to get more wiggle room)

I've already sewn my skirt up with my first french seams! It seemed like a perfect time to try them out for the first time. My dress just needs to be hemmed, now. I had planned to be finished by now, but time keep slipping away from me...

I do thoroughly adore the look of french seams. And um...thank you for the fabulous link to french seams with pockets. I usually end up not doing them if there is a pocket. I especially love french seams in slippery fabric like silk. They look much better than anything else, I think.

I thought that on a curved seam a french seam is not used (that's what my uni tutors told me), or at least the seam still needs to be clipped to lay flat, so spoiling the neat beauty of the french?! I know a mock french can be used on a curved seam but it still may not lay flat. If Gertie's saying it's ok though, I'm gonna start 'frenching' with abandon!

I've become a fan of zig-zagging my French seams after the first WS together pass. It rolls and whips the raw seam allowance and makes this really neat finish when I encase it - no whiskers! Plus, the zig-zagged seam fits perfectly under my pin tuck foot when I stitch RS together - even, tiny French seams every time!

French seams are lovely, but they somewhat intimidate me. Or at least did, until I understood that I don't really need more seam allowance that I'm used to (1 cm), I just need to *think* a little more... Nevertheless, I rarely sew French seams - maybe it's because of the problem Psycho Sue points out? But I've got a nicely fitted shirt pattern now - I will definitely try it out!

One question, though: What with pressing after the seam is done; would you press e.g. side seams towards the back piece?